Tag Archives: california

Child support info, for those who owe or who are owed

FROM THE NEWS-LEDGER —

From the County of Yolo

This year, as part of Child Support Awareness Month, the Yolo County Department of Child Support Services, located at 100 West Court Street (corner of Court and California) in Woodland, will host the following workshops designed to help parents who are obligated to pay child support, as well as those receiving support. Throughout the month, the department is also helping non-custodial parents through a special program called, “Get Back on Track”, which assists them with suspended licenses.

Compromise of Arrears Program Workshop (Learn if you are eligible to eliminate some of your child support debt when support is owed to the government to repay the cost of public assistance.): Tuesday, August 19 at 10:00 a.m.

Modification Workshops (Learn about circumstances in which an existing child support order may be modified.): Monday, August 11 at 3:00 p.m. or Monday, August 25 at 6:00 p.m.

General information about California’s Child Support Services Program is available at: www.childsup.ca.gov and over the phone at: 1-866-901-3212. General information about the Yolo County Department of Child Support Services is available at: www.yolocountychildsupport.org.

Do you like what you see here?

You can support local journalism, support this website, and see all the News-Ledger’s articles every week! Subscribe to the News-Ledger newspaper. It’s only $20 per year within West Sacramento – once a week, delivered to your mailbox.

You can even try it for free for two months if you live in West Sacramento. Just send your name and mailing address to FreeTrial@news-ledger.com (offer open to new subscribers in West Sacramento ZIP codes 95691 & 95605).

Copyright News-Ledger 2014

City officials, school board members prepare to take on challengers

FROM THE NEWS-LEDGER — Aug. 6, 2014 —

The regular filing period for those interested in running for mayor, city council or school board in West Sacramento’s November ballot ends on Friday, Aug. 8.

(The deadline will be extended for challengers by five days in any race in which an incumbent fails to file to run again.)

So far, here’s how the field is shaping up.

There are two available seats on the board of trustees of the Washington Unified School District.

Incumbent Sarah-Kirby Gonzalez (an incumbent/teacher/parent from Southport) has filed to run for another four-year term. Fellow incumbent Adam Menke has told the News-Ledger he plans to do the same.

Challengers thus far include Jeff Reyes (school counselor/educator from Prosser Street), Bernadette R. Austin (parent/community developer from Hearst Street) and Norma Alcala (occupation unlisted, but known to the News-Ledger as a business owner and Democratic activist, residing on Woodhaven Lane).

They are vying for two available seats, each with a four-year term.

Meanwhile, no one has yet filed to run for mayor or city council.

Incumbent mayor Christopher Cabaldon has “pulled papers” (taken out his candidacy paperwork) from city hall in advance of seeking another two-year term. Newcomer Narinderpal Singh Hundal has done the same.

For the city council race, both incumbents — Mark Johannessen and Chris Ledesma — have taken out their candidacy papers.

So have potential challengers Jeff Lyon, Nancy Tran and Robb White.

Do you like what you see here?

You can support local journalism, support this website, and see all the News-Ledger’s articles every week! Subscribe to the News-Ledger newspaper. It’s only $20 per year within West Sacramento – once a week, delivered to your mailbox.

You can even try it for free for two months if you live in West Sacramento. Just send your name and mailing address to FreeTrial@news-ledger.com (offer open to new subscribers in West Sacramento ZIP codes 95691 & 95605).

Copyright News-Ledger 2014

Southport ‘Horror Campout’: did city follow rules in approving permit on farm property?

After the “Great Horror Campout” broke camp on July 19, the News-Ledger was left with a couple of lingering questions about the permit process that allowed it to set up on a Southport farm on July 18-19. That commercial event, at which paid customers camped overnight and participated in horror-themed activities, was viewed as a disruption by at least a few of its Burrows Avenue-area neighbors.

Some of those neighbors protested at a city council meeting two days ahead of the event, as the permit was still being weighed. They objected to congestion, noise, and to the event’s gory content, and said no one had given them proper notice of the permit application.

The News-Ledger asked local police if either the applicant, 1031 Productions, or the landowner, Dave Vierra of Vierra Farms, were required to give advance notice of the planned event to neighbors as part of the city permit process.

According to the West Sacramento Municipal Code, said Lieutenant Tod Sockman in an email, “no prior event notifications to surrounding area is required by City or event staff.”

He added that a rep from the event company “walked the neighborhood and left her personal card and phone number with any residents to talk to her,” making that effort “of her own will (and in an attempt) to work with the neighbors to address any issues.”

The News-Ledger also relayed a charge from one neighbor who said he had asked the police department for a copy of the permit application shortly before the event and was told to file a California Public Records Act request and wait five days.

Lieutenant Sockman appeared to say that didn’t happen:

“Everyone that asked for a copy of the permit from the police department was directed to City Hall, which handles all PRAs (Public Records Act requests),” wrote Sockman. “(The City) had a copy to hand out if someone came in, as directed. According to City Hall, only one person actually went to City Hall to get a copy of the permit and he had it within one business day, which was prior to the weekend events.”

Lieutenant David Delaini noted that the “Great Horror Campout” filed its permit less than the required 45 days in advance, but for good cause – the event’s initial choice for a site in Sacramento had been damaged by a fire. The Chief of Police – who is responsible for deciding on such a permit, after getting input from other city departments – has the ability to waive the 45-day requirement for “good cause.”

Delaini said the permit was issued the day before the event, with the provision that there be no amplified sound after 11 p.m.

“During the course of the event,” he added, “officers from the West Sacramento Police Department conducted a total of seven ‘extra patrols’ of the area. The event generated a total of two documented calls for service. One of which was a medical aid and one was for a female who was refusing to leave the event. . . no noise complaints were called in during this two-day event.”

The News-Ledger did spot one other crime report apparently affiliated with the “Great Horror Campout.” The morning after, “Great Horror Campout” staff reported the vandalism of a $999 mannequin.

Do you like what you see here?

You can support local journalism, support this website, and see all the News-Ledger’s articles every week! Subscribe to the News-Ledger newspaper. It’s only $20 per year within West Sacramento – once a week, delivered to your mailbox.

You can even try it for free for two months if you live in West Sacramento. Just send your name and mailing address to FreeTrial@news-ledger.com (offer open to new subscribers in West Sacramento ZIP codes 95691 & 95605).

Copyright News-Ledger 2014

‘Christmas in July,’ from a land Down Under

BY DARYL FISHER, News-Ledger Features Editor

FROM THE NEWS-LEDGER — JULY 23, 2014 —

Many years ago I wrote a column I called “Christmas in July” which was about how we should all try a little harder to keep the Christmas spirit alive and well throughout the year, not just during the Christmas season. Although the column went on for 750 words or more, it was actually just an excuse to share the following little poem, penned by Howard Thurman, an African-American author, theologian and Civil Rights leader:

When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flocks, The real work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among brothers, To make music in the heart.

Well, if one has had the courage lately to read the front page of any newspaper, the news is certainly not about rebuilding nations and bringing peace to our brothers. Instead the headlines are about civilian airplanes being blown out of the sky, old wars still raging in places like Iraq, Syria, Africa and Afghanistan, a new one starting up yet again in the Middle East where Palestinian and Israeli civilian casualties and deaths never seem to matter, not to mention the ugly scenes on our own Southern borders where too many Americans seem to have the need to express their dislike with our country’s immigration policies by screaming epitaphs at young kids in school buses.

Be that as it may, it does turn out that in quite a few places in the world, Christmas really is celebrated in July, and I was recently reminded of that by the following conversation I had with an Australian friend of mine:

“Australians and New Zealanders haven’t rejected December 25th as being Christmas,” explained my friend, “but many of us simply have two of them, with Christmas in July being called Yuletide or Yulefest. And it is especially popular in our colder areas like the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, where it was apparently started up long ago by immigrating Europeans who associated Christmas with winter. It seems that folks in the Southern Hemisphere are divided between loving Christmas in summer and feeling ripped off that Christmas is typically hot and sticky here and mocks having a traditional white Christmas. You see, even though Christmas in Australia is usually celebrated under air conditioning or by the poolside or at the beach, there is still the notion that a real Christmas should be a winter thing. Nonetheless every year when our hot December rolls around Australian stores are overflowing with Christmas cards and wrapping papers depicting snow scenes with some poor Santa standing around in his heavy Santa suit about ready to collapse from heat stroke. I can’t tell you how many news stories we have every Christmas about some hard-working Santa who has fainted and been transported by ambulance to an emergency room in an effort to get his body temperature back down to normal.”

As our conversation continued I also learned that although Australians still think of turkey and ham as traditional Christmas foods, Australian women don’t particularly enjoy slaving away on hot days in hot kitchens so such things as prawns, lobster, simple salads and cold beer have become quite acceptable Christmas foods in that part of the world.

“Christmas in July has also come to be enjoyed by many Australians because there’s less hoo ha at that time of year,” continued my friend. “The nuttiness of buying lots of gifts which are not really wanted and often end up being `re-gifted’ is not such a problem in July, not to mention not having to deal with all those in-your-face Christmas lights and trimmings and having to listen endlessly to those often torturous Christmas songs on the radio and in stores and malls. So our Christmas in July is minus all the fluff and bubbles and makes that time more meaningful and enjoyable, with no worries about shopping, cooking, washing dishes or sending out cards. I guess I should also admit that having more than one Christmas each year also allows Australians the opportunity to party and pull out the grog, which of course is something we love to do. So I’m no longer so sure that the Aussies and the Kiwis drew the short straw when it comes to Christmas and who knows, maybe you Californians will give Christmas in July a chance someday, too. Believe me, there’s worse ways to spend Christmas than out at the pool or spa, wearing flip flops, eating prawns and drinking a cold beer. Just make sure you don’t volunteer to be Santa.”

Do you like what you see here?

You can support local journalism, support this website, and see all the News-Ledger’s articles every week! Subscribe to the News-Ledger newspaper. It’s only $20 per year within West Sacramento – once a week, delivered to your mailbox.

You can even try it for free for two months if you live in West Sacramento. Just send your name and mailing address to FreeTrial@news-ledger.com (offer open to new subscribers in West Sacramento ZIP codes 95691 & 95605).